| Firefighters remain on apartment fire scene this morning (Photo: J.D. Pooley/Sentinel-Tribune) |
PERRYSBURG – About 25 people were left homeless following a fire early
this morning at Perry Lake Village Apartments on Lake Vue Drive.
According to Perrysburg Police, at 12:10 a.m. an officer observed a fire
at the apartments and responded to the scene, pinpointing the blaze at
26773 Lake Vue Drive.
The affected building housed 24 apartments and the officer alerted the occupants to immediately evacuate
the building.
The Perrysburg Fire Division was assisted by crews from the Maumee and Perrysburg Township departments.
Perrysburg Fire Chief Jeff Klein said this morning that the State Fire
Marshal is investigating the blaze, which is standard procedure.
Gary Loboschefski, manager of disaster and emergency services with the
Greater Toledo Chapter of the American Red Cross, said that eight
apartments were destroyed in the fire, and that the organization has
opened cases for 11 families, which he estimated include about 25 people
affected in total.
“We provided everybody with rooms last night, a place to stay and
clothes and food,” he said, and noted that “we were told by the complex
that they may have other units available for some of the people” whose
apartments were destroyed. The availability of the units was to be
determined this morning. Those displaced stayed in area hotels last
night.
“This is being handled primarily through the Wood County office, the
Bowling Green office (of the Red Cross), and we’re going to continue to
see what emergency needs” are required for those who were displaced,
including medications, as well as living arrangements and connecting
them with other county agencies.
Loboschefski said that a man and his wife were reportedly taken to St.
Luke’s Hospital shortly after the fire began, with one of them
experiencing chest pains or anxiety due to the fire, but were not
injured by the fire.
